Dead Lake
by Ruch1988
Summary: A man named James Donovan emerges from his house after more then a month of isolation to find a world of danger, confusion and fear. He soon meets other people, and discovers that the few surviving humans in this world may be far more dangerous then the mindless zombies. Loosely based off the Walking Dead, in terms of characters and plot.


**May 2nd, 2015**

James stared blankly at the roof. The endless tapping of the rain and roaring sound of the thunder combined to make this night a sleepless one. It was strange; even after 38 days, James still occasionally felt uneasy. He hadn't even stepped outside since March 25th, and yet always felt strange. The windows and doors were barricaded to the roof, but James couldn't repress his fear.

It was also odd that it had already been 38 days since he locked himself in. More than a month ago, James locked the doors and piled up the furniture. It had been more than a month since James felt the wind on his cheeks. Living in this town, he was outside all the time; being cooped up inside felt demoralizing.

It was, of course, justified. Ever since that disease struck the globe, there was no sign of resistance. James kept a detailed calendar of the events. It was on February 28th that he first heard of the disease. They said it was a big deal; it was some kind of parasitic worm that burrowed into the brain, killed the host, and somehow restarted the nervous system.

They said the disease started somewhere in southeast Asia; Vietnam, if James recalled correctly. It quickly spread to Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia and Australia. By March 9th, every major newscast was focused on delivering news regarding the disease. They called it the _cannibal word_ , after the most prominent symptom of the parasite: it made humans want to eat other humans.

On March 15th, the worm made landfall in the United States and Canada. By March 21st, the incredibly resilient worm, resistant to nearly all of humanity's attempts, had infected a sizable portion of the US and Canada. It was at that time James realized this was something big. On the 24th, the worm arrived in James' hometown of Crater, Maine, and most became infected. The next day, James locked himself inside.

Luckily, he had a plethora of canned food, because he was organizing the community food drive. Crater was a small town of about 10,000 people, and nearly all became infected within a week. The disease wasn't airborne, thank God, but could be spread through infected water, blood, saliva and feces. Getting bit by one of them would spell death.

As James barricaded himself inside his condominium and waited. While the riots ensued outside, James sat on the couch and did nothing, no one aware of his existence. Slowly eating off his reserves of canned food and bottled water, James waited. Soon, the gunshots and screaming stopped. The world had become stagnant. The apocalypse had arrived.

But now, as James sat in bed, a dim lantern barely illuminating the room, he felt anxious. The food and water were running out. He knew that he would soon have to escape his house and see what the world was like now. He knew he would have to, but really didn't want to.

 **May 3rd, 2015**

James awoke. He ached and felt sore from a restless night, but got up promptly. He knew this would have to be the day. He would have to emerge from his den and fight the encroaching dangers of the world. Having literally no experience in survival scared James; he didn't even know how to dispatch of one of them.

James exited his bedroom. In the living room, most of the furniture was piled up against the doors and windows. Living on the first floor of the condo building against the lake was not good. In the far corner lay a giant pile of opened cans. James never realized how much he ate, even when doing very sedentary activity.

James walked into the kitchen, where he kept much of his survival items. He didn't have a very good frame of reference; what should he bring outside? He opted to bring his last 2 water bottles and some granola bars for food. Regarding survival items, James brought a survival knife, camping axe, compass and some old water purifying tablets he had. Just in case.

That was really it. James didn't really know what to bring. He thought he would try and go to the old convenience store up the hill. It was just down the street; a stone's throw from his dwelling. James went there all the time before everything happened, and knew the place well. _This will work_ , James thought, _it has to._

James approached the back door. It was a sliding glass door that lead onto the deck. The entire wall was effectively glass. James was able to cover it up with towels, sheets and blankets, and barricaded it with the two spare beds he owned, as well as many other small pieces of furniture.

He approached the door, which was blocked by a large wardrobe. James pulled it away, heaving. He had no idea how he got it there in the first place; this thing was heavy. James managed to pull out the wardrobe just enough that he could slip out. He slid open the glass door and creeped outside.

The air was cool and humid. It was slightly windy, and a light drizzle could be felt. The waters on the lake, right in front of James' house, were choppy. Peering across, James couldn't see any movement. It was like a ghost town; either all the infected had died, left or were simply hiding. Either option was equally terrifying.

James turned around and headed toward the road. I few houses, all abandoned, were on top of the hills surrounding the road. James, in a rather sneaky posture, crept along the wall of the condo building. As he turned around the corner, he spotted the tip of the convenience store on top of a large hill. As the wind fiercely blew past James' face and body, he crept up the hill like a spider. No infected could be seen or heard, but somehow James had a feeling they were there.

As James neared the top of the hill and the convenience store, an ache wrenched his gut. He grasped his abdomen while continuing up. As James poked his head above the hill and across the parking lot, he spotted a huge herd of infected. There had to be at least fifty of them, all standing or slowly shuffling about.

They were the ugliest things James had ever seen. They had grey, clammy skin, knotted hair, empty eyes and bloody mouths. Their fingernails were long and their clothes were tattered. Some had holes throughout their body, and a few seemed to be deathly thin. Next to the colorful convenience store was a large, fortified SWAT truck. A dead officer lay next to the truck.

"Son of a bitch!" James whispered. He was in trouble. His way through was blocked. He decided to head back to his apartment, and maybe go the other way. Wherever he went, he would have to be quiet. James quickly turned around, but suddenly tripped messily on a bike rack. He flew forward and and began rolling down the hill, but his foot got caught in the bars.

"Fuck!" James tugged at his leg. He heard the infected moan as they approached. James spotted some coming towards him. This was it. This was the end. James twirled his foot around and it slowly came loose, just seconds before one of them opened its jaws. James stood up and turned around.

A few of them were at the bottom of the hill, right in between James and his condominium. James took a left, hoping to evade them. He ran speedily, without looking back. James neared an alleyway, thinking it would be a good spot to lose them. James slowed down, after a moment of running, to catch his breath.

This entire situation was crazy. James turned around, and, through the ominous fog, spotted a few infected coming his way. More joined the crowd, following their well-known herd mentality. James turned around to continue running, but spotted a crowd in front of him. He was trapped.

Panting, James took his axe out of his pack. This would have to be the day that James would kill one. As one, a particularly skinny walker, approached, James aimed his weapon. Right before James could strike it, a gunshot rang out. The walker fell to the ground and blood splattered all over James' face.

James glanced to the side. A man wearing a jacket and ski mask kicked open a gate into one of the yards. He stepped out, holding a pistol, and began shooting at the walkers. James was totally confused. "Get inside!" the man yelled, "Get inside the yard!"

James did so. About five more gunshots could be heard, after which the man dived back into the yard and shut the gate. Perplexed, stunned, surprised, winded, tired, fatigued and scared, James was both excited and fearful regarding this new, foreign person he had just met.


End file.
